BusinessObjects Review

OLAP REPORT REVIEW: BusinessObjects XI Release 2

Author: Nigel Pendse Released: 2006 Pages: 47 Single User Price: $895 USD An in-depth product evaluation and rating The first merged release is launched as BusinessObjects XI. OLAP functionality is only part of Business Objects' product portfolio. Originally developed as an easy-to-use reporting tool, BusinessObjects (the product name, as opposed to the company title, runs the two words together) launched its analytical tool set comparatively recently. In this 45-page review, you will learn how the company has continued to develop its product set and specifically how BusinessObjects Analytics, as well as OLAP Intelligence (formerly WebIntelligence), the OLAP components of its portfolio, rate. Business Objects is a French-based business which now has a strong international presence, particularly in North America. Following its acquisition of Crystal Decisions, the company overtook its number one rival, Cognos, to become the largest revenue-generator in the business intelligence market. The review explores the implications of this major acquisition for the merged companies' customer base in terms of product development, pricing and product strategies. There is a strong emphasis on ease of use over functionality for ad hoc queries, analytics and reporting. From the non-technical user's perspective, more advanced analytics can be limited, depending on the architecture of the system. You will find out where the trade-offs have been made in creating user-friendly tools as opposed to delivering the kind of power that full-time analysts may require. Disparities are also found in the quality and range of formatted reports and presentation graphics, depending on the tools used. This review helps you to cut through to the need-to-know facts about the fit with your OLAP requirements. Among other things, you will learn about: The reality behind Business Objects' positioning as an enterprise performance management vendor The accessibility of OLAP and relational data sources The implications for performance of data-load and pre-calculation capabilities. A sample of the numerous specially generated screenshots from this review. Click to enlarge.

Contents: Vendor overview Company background Analytical application Revenues International issues Market share Product commercial issues Pricing Database structure and capacity Architecture and platforms Data access functionality Application links Calculation functionality Reporting flexibility Automatic detection of exceptions Time series intelligence Currency support Security and DBMS issues End-user human factors Application building features Performance Conclusions and scores Ask a question about this product? Other customers also purchased: Cognos PowerPlay Review MicroStrategy 7i Review Implementing OLAP products Analysis Email a colleague about this product

All information copyright ©2005, Optima Publishing Ltd, all rights reserved.